How you remind me
by picklgirl
Summary: A girl from Balthier's past shows up again; what will the skypirate decide? Balthier/Vaan & Balthier/OC? Oneshot. Remotely based upon the song by Nickelback, made by request.


**A/N: Ahaha, yet again another story that isn't related to "On Treasury". Omg, I'm such a terrible writer for not being able to write that chapter.  
Anyway, this story is based upon the Nickelback song "How you remind me" and it was requested by **Ana Caroline**.**

**_I hope you like it hun ^^_**

**If any of you want to request something, just ask away and I'll see what I can do :)**

**Pairing: Balthier/Vaan, Balthier/OC?**

**Rating: K+**

**Disclaimer:**** I am in no way related to FFXII or the song mentioned above, they're all owned by their rightful owners. Or something like that.**

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_How you remind me  
~~~_

Balthier emptied his bottle of Madhu and joined in the laughter of his company. Basch was leaning back in his chair, his eyes trying to focus on one point - but failing miserably - and talking with slurred speech while making big arm gestures. _Who would've thought the former captain would be such an entertainer._  
Opposite of him sat Vaan; cheeks flushed pink and also intoxicated by the Bhujerban liquor. The skypirate was obviously the one who could hold his liquor the best of them all. All the better, he had thought, then he wouldn't have to endure a troublesome hangover the next morning.

With the excuse of needing some fresh air, he had lured both blondes downstairs, while leaving the ladies to themselves.

"I'm going for another drink," the pirate stated while he stood up.

Basch held up his nearly empty bottle and waved it around with a wide smile on his face. Balthier got the idea and nodded, after which he looked at the teen. The boy obviously shouldn't be drinking, but Balthier could care less, he was a skypirate for all that matter.

The boy grabbed the cuff of the pirate's shirt and softly tugged it. The bright pink colored face looking up at him was too cute to resist.

"Don't leave me alone," Vaan softly hummed while he frowned his eyebrows in an attempt to put up a worrying face.

It made the brunette grin. He bowed down and quickly pressed a kiss on the teen's lips. "Don't worry love, I'll be right back."

Balthier grabbed his empty bottle and headed for the bar, "Another two of these," the pirate shouted at the bartender while he put his empty bottle down.

"I see you still like your drinks," a female voice said.

The pirate looked around to see where it came from. To his left, stood a vaguely familiar looking woman. She had chestnut eyes, matching brown hair and a tanned skin. Just about your average Bhujerban female. But the way she stood there and something about the aura she resonated, was off. Plus, the way she was dressed wasn't Bhujerban-like at all. Not to mention that her accent didn't even remotely sounded as that of any inhabitant of Bhujerba. No, this woman was definitely Archadian.

Then it suddenly struck Balthier as to who this woman was. "Anna," he said, nearly whispering, with a hunch of confusion mixed in it.

"Bingo," she replied with a wink.

The male suddenly felt nauseous and heavily regretted not staying in his bed and getting a good night of sleep. This girl was the last he had expected to see in the sky city.

"It's been a while ...," the pirate mumbled while he took a big gulp of the new bottle of Madhu. This wasn't good. That woman - Anna - reminded him too much of his past life, from before he became a skypirate.

"You could say that, yes," Anna said as she crossed her arms across her chest; "Last time I saw you, was when you came to tell me that you got promoted to being a Judge and therefore could never see me again." The girl cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes; "Isn't that right, _Ffamran_?"

Hearing his real name, made Balthier even more uncomfortable; "Yes, yes, I do recall what I said to you back then," the pirate said, followed by another gulp from the Madhu. This meant big troubles. Why the hell did that girl travel so far away from Archades?

"Then why don't you tell me, _Ffamran_, what an Archadian Judge is doing so far from home?" the woman spit out.

"I could ask you the same, _Anna_," Balthier threw back.

The woman gave him a mean glare and anxiously started patting with her foot on the floor.

With a sigh, Balthier gave in, he would have to tell her the truth sooner or later, "Fine, because you're asking so nicely," he muttered while he rolled his eyes.

"I never made it as a wise man. Politics, least of all Archadian ones, weren't meant for me. So I escaped from it when I still had the chance. Took a new prototype fighter airship to get away. I was tired of living like a blind man; I wanted to see what was out there." Balthier paused for a moment to take another sip of his drink. "So I started travelling and I acquired myself - amongst other things - a travelling partner. I'd changed my name along the way and decided it was time to call myself a skypirate." He looked at the girl and awaited her reaction.

Anna looked displeased and pulled up her nose in disgust, "Pirate scum of the skies."

The skypirate raised an eyebrow and let out a laugh, "You and my father were always so very much alike."

"_Ffamran!_" the girl shouted out as she firmly grabbed Balthier's hands; "You could've told me!" Her eyes stood determined.

The male softly shook his head and took a step backwards, so that the girl had to release her grip on him. "No, I could've not. And would you please stop calling me like that."

The woman was surprised by his response. "That's right, it's _Balthier_ now, isn't it," she said, the disgust returning to her face. "You do know there's a price on your head?"

The pirate nodded, "Seems the change of name didn't really matter. The ways of the Archadian Army are incomprehensible."

The girl sadly let her head drop; "Why did you leave? I don't get it," she muttered, half to herself.

Balthier sighed, clearly tired of having this conversation, "I hated my father and his strict way of life - not to mention the fact that there clearly was something wrong with the man. Ever since I was little, I've been waiting on a different story, something that would take me away from the life I had been living up until then."

The male brunette could swear he saw tears rolling down the girl's cheeks. "Are you crying?" he asked her bluntly.

Anna wiped away the tears and looked up into the pirate's almond eyes, "I've been down to the bottom of every bottle, I was sick thinking too much about you, but I held onto the thought that someday you would return to me. But you never did ..." she said with a shaky voice, choking back her tears.

Balthier scraped his voice, "What we had - if we had something to begin with - belongs to the past."

The Archadian woman shook her head determined, "No! Not to me! I said I love you and I swear I still do!"

The skypirate sighed and muttered; "Look, Anna, I-" only to be broken off mid-sentence by a pair of arms that wrapped themselves around his waist from behind.

"Balthier," a familiar drunken voice sung, his breath hot on the pirate's neck.

_Vaan; always an __impeccable timing._

"Basch wants his drink," the blond told Balthier while he laid his head against the other male's back. "And I want you," he added with a giggle.

The pirate unwrapped the boy's arms and turned towards him. He pushed the full bottle of Madhu into Vaan's hands and quickly kissed him on the forehead, "I'll be right with you," the pirate whispered.

Smiling broadly, the Rabanastran walked back towards their table.

Balthier smiled as he turned back towards Anna, who had been watching with her jaw dropped in surprise.

"As I said, it belongs in the past," the skypirate explained her.

Uncomfortably, the girl scratched the back of her head and sighed, "It seems I was mistaken about thinking you would still be ... _available_," she muttered as she threw a glance over Balthier's shoulder. "I apologize," she added in a flat tone.

"It's not like you to say sorry, so don't," the pirate said.

"I should be going then," Anna said apologetic.

Balthier nodded in agreement, "Send my regards to my brothers; I'm sure they'll be glad to hear you found me."

The female brunette looked up and asked him one last time; "You're certain I can't persuade you into coming with me?"

The pirate smiled sadly and shook his head, "You remind me of what I really am. Therefore I cannot."

Balthier turned round and walked up to the table where Basch and Vaan were seated. The latter greeted him exuberantly as he pulled him out of his chair. Whirling around each other, the pirate placed his arms around the boy's waist, who had wrapped his own arms around Balthier's neck. The boy placed a kiss on the brunette's lips and while giggling, he wriggled himself out of the embrace. Shouting something at the pirate that made him laugh, he pulled the man up the stairs towards the rooms.

Before turning his attention fully to Vaan again, Balthier glanced one last time over his shoulder towards Anna.

"Farewell," he mouthed in her direction and she replied with a smile.

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**A/N: Review me and I'll love you foreve****r :3  
I'm sorry, I ran out of original review-lines D: Studying is a dreadful business T_T**


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